Page 58 of Love Me, I Dare You

“Nash,” she mumbles under her breath as she scowls at her brother. Her irritation is obvious, though I notice her eyes don’t display the same hatred they did just a few days ago.It’s moments like these I forget how much their relationship suffered and I can’t help but think I’m part of the reason.

“Hey Izzy,” Nash says with a soft yet awkward smile. Though, his tone is gentle.

“Izzy?” Billie asks, and I’m equally curious as to why Nash is calling his sister by her middle name.

“It’s a nickname I gave Monroe when she was born, and I couldn’t say her name. Monroe sounded more like Mon-woah, so I got tired of the teasing from our older brothers and started calling her Izzy, short for Isobel.”

“Sorry, am I interrupting?” Raven asks as she returns to our table with a beer in her hand. Nash turns at the sudden intrusion, his focus now on Raven. Compelled by her beauty, he stares for a lot longer than necessary. Jealousy, the raging bitch, creeps up inside me and suddenly I have no desire to hire the pretty girl.

“Nash, this is Raven…” I say, but Nash interrupts my introductions.

“Raven Dawson,” he says, his voice carrying an unfamiliar warmth as he looks at the woman next to me like he’s known her his entire life. There’s no fucking way, unless, unless she’s here because of him. Raven’s earlier comment about being away from Crossroads for a few years comes back to me.Is she a woman from his past? A scorned ex-girlfriend who’s come looking for him?

Raven seems totally unfazed by his presence, something out of the norm for most women. “Nash Bishop, glad to see you without all the stitches or bruises for once.”

“You two know each other?” Monroe asks, ready to murder her brother for flirting with another woman while I’m standing right in front of him. Especially after what I just told her happened between us and what she just witnessed.

Raven explains the reason for this shift in his demeanor. “Nash came into the hospital to get stitched up or have his broken bones mended by my dad more than anyone in all of Crossroads.”

Their playful familiarity suddenly makes sense and I’m relieved it’s not any of the circumstances I concocted in my head. But my mind wanders, thoughts of what might occur at this unexpected reunion, as I’m not at all comfortable with the way they so easily fall into conversation.

“You were no more than ten years old when I last saw you. Look at you now, Rae.”

“Rae?” I question with a slightly bitter edge to my voice and when all four pairs of eyes fall on me, realize I’ve said it out loud for all to hear.

Billie once again saves the day and stops things from escalating or becoming any more awkward than they are. “Raven is twenty-one now and is the newest employee of Stingers.”

Yet it’s Nash’s teasing smirk that tells me he caught on to the jealousy behind my clipped tone. “Nice, congrats Rae.” Raven smiles, green eyes flickering with excitement, but not when she looks up at Nash as I expected. It’s when she looks at me.

“Really Bailey? I got the job?” I can hear the desperation in her voice combined with a shrill of eagerness.

Put in the awkward position of hiring a girl I didn’t even get to interview or vet for the job, or refusing to and coming off as a jealous girlfriend who’s angry Raven is friendly with my man, I have no other choice but to nod and extend my hand out to her. “Welcome to the Stingers team.”

Nash sets a hand down upon her shoulder, his fingers gently squeezing as he congratulates her. “It’s good to see a familiar face around what has become one of my most frequented and favorite places in Crossroads.”

The son of a bitch is playing me, trying to get a rise out of me now that he senses a hint of what he thinks is jealousy. I don’t give him the pleasure of watching me make my new employee the enemy, knowing it’s his way of distracting me and making me forget he’s the one I should be wary of, not her.

“Raven, why don’t you have Penny show you the way to the office? My brother Jameson is in and the two of you can go over and fill out whatever paperwork you need to get you on board. Then, if you’re available, you can start tomorrow. We’re closed Mondays, but it would be a great opportunity for you to come in and complete your orientation and go over some training modules with Jase.”

Raven’s excitement is unmistakable and I’m suddenly feeling like this is going to work out for the best. She’s cool and reminds me a bit of myself when I was younger. Unsure what to do with my life, clearly not fitting into the mold my parents wanted me to fit. Nor following in my siblings' footsteps. Looking closely at her, I notice some ink peeking out from under her top that bares her midriff and the ink along her upper body. Yeah, I’m sure Dr. and Mrs. Dawson didn’t approve of that.

“Sounds perfect. Thank you so much, Bailey. It was good to see you girls again. You too, Nash.”

Nash’s hand remains on her shoulder and the asshole has the audacity to pull her in closer for a one-armed hug. “Yeah, look forward to seeing you around here, Rae.”

My anger turns into annoyance because I know for a fact the bastard is flirting with her just to piss me off. The only positive thing, Raven, somehow doesn’t seem at all affected by him.

“Rae, huh?” Billie mocks, repeating her name in an over-exaggerated impression of Nash as soon as Raven is out of earshot. As he’s done most of the night, Nash ignores her.

I can feel the weight of his gaze as he redirects his attention to me. “We need to talk.” I'm taken aback by his forwardness,especially in front of his sister and Billie. My eyes search for answers, or maybe even reassurance, but I find nothing but more questions. I’m itching to find out what he wants, what the text he sent me said, but I don’t want to seem desperate and take my phone out to read it. I came down to spend time with the girls. Much needed time, especially since I’ve barely seen them all week and we have so much to discuss and plan regarding the mixer we need to put together.

I smile softly, trying my best to appear unaffected, yet I know I fail miserably. “Not sure we do. But if you insist, it will have to wait. If you hadn’t noticed, you interrupted a girls' night and we have a major event we need to plan.”

“What event?” He asks, clearly annoyed I’m blowing him off to plan some unnecessary party.

I give him a small but cheerful smile. “It’s a dating mixer. We'll be hosting here at Stingers in less than two weeks.”

“Dating mixer? As in speed dating?” He sounds baffled by the idea, like three single girls looking to find love is unheard of.

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